Have A Little Faith!
by notevenifyoukillme
Summary: When Buffy gave her life in place of Dawn, it seemed that there was no hope left. However, Faith returned to her Slayer duties in Sunnydale. Now with their final battle against The First coming up it's Faith's final test; can she win?
1. Introduction

**Authors Note: **I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of its characters, except my happy place where Buffy and Angel live happily ever after.  
**Plot summary:** What if when Buffy died at the hands of the portal, she stayed dead? What if Faith took her duties after escaping from prison during season 2 of Angel? What if it was FAITH that lead the Potentials to fight The First? Alternate reality. Once again with the Buffy being dead scenario, an accidentally recurring theme with my fanfics.  
**Setting: **Starts at about 'Touched'.

What I'm writing here is just an introduction, which is why it's very short. The chapters will be longer, although writers block has set up camp in my head right now so I don't know how long they'll be. This was sort of a flash forward, the next chapter will be set during Touched.

* * *

A hush fell upon the house as everyone in it remained in silent contemplation of what was to come. They knew that one way or another by the end of today it would be finished. The air was electric as all of the Potentials woke and none of them moved.

"Girls," the leader's voice sounded from the kitchen, strong and determined. "It's time."

The Potentials were all fearful of what was to come, all knowing that;

"Some of you will die today. Decide that it's not going to be you. Fight. _Win,_" the leader continued.

"Does anyone know where the Bran is? I put my name on it," Andrew said, bursting into the conversation. The Slayer rolled her eyes at him.

A Potential with her mouth full held up a seemingly empty box of Bran, the front showing the whole room a very obvious sticker reading _'THIS BRAN BELONGS TO ANDREW'_. She shrugged indifferently and finished devouring the remnants of the box.

"You Potentials are just as bad as Faith!" he pouted, storming out.

"_Anyway,_" The Slayer continued, "We have to go into this with our eyes open. We've trained you all we can, now it's up to you. Believe in yourselves. As the one Slayer born to every generation, I'm telling you that _we. Can. Win_."

Rona looked up admiringly, "We believe in you, Faith."


	2. A New Toy

Official chapter one, set just after Faith recovered the scythe from Caleb, in this version The First didn't warn Faith about her friends being in trouble, he just escaped her. Mostly my laziness about stringing that into the plot at work here. This chapter isn't very eventful, more recapping past events - longer but still kind of short. Did I mention I love writing Faith? Especially Faith and Giles; very good fun. :D

* * *

Faith entered her home proudly with her deadly and mysterious weapon in hand. This thing had been a bitch to get and if it didn't help them she would go back there and burn that place to the ground. Then again, she decided might just do that anyway.

"Giles!" she called, "I got somethin' for ya!"

Giles stumbled into the room distractedly, "Oh, Faith, you're back."

"What's with the quiet? The girls don't usually go beddy-byes this early."

"No, they're still out on their reconnaissance. What's that?" his eyes locked onto the weapon.

"Brought you a shiny new toy Watcher-Boy," she smirked, throwing the scythe-like weapon to him.

"Intriguing, it almost looks like..." Giles trailed off, a small boyish smile breaking onto his face. Faith chuckled quietly at the fact that even in the face of grave and imminent danger Giles was still jazzed by a new toy to research.

"Yeah, well, Merry Christmas," Faith said flippantly, walking upstairs to check on Dawn.

Faith knocked on the door repeatedly. "Dawn? You in there?" Never one for invites, she broke the lock for the third time this month (which was fine because Xander, although now visually impaired, could still do a kickass job with locks) and opened the door. Dawn was sitting on her bed with her earphones in. No wonder she couldn't hear Faith.

Dawn looked up at Faith and removed her earplugs, pausing whatever song she was listening to. _Probably something from The Spice Girls_, Faith thought amusedly. "Yeah? What's up?"

"What's with the earphones?"  
"Well, with the noise downstairs I'm not exactly..." she paused, listening. "Hey, there's no noise downstairs!" She grinned a cheeky smile, "Did you kill them?"

"Knock that hopeful look of your face before I do it kid," Faith joked, nudging Dawn.

When Faith had arrived after Buffy's death, Dawn had been a mess. Faith doubted that if she hadn't been here and Giles, Willow and Xander hadn't helped her try to deal and recover whether Dawn would be here today - whether that meant running away or God knows what else. It had been hard on all of them when she'd died. Angel had come to the prison to tell Faith about it, and he'd been a wreck. He'd dealt, though, she was told by Wesley (of whom she kept in regular contact - as unlikely as it was, they had reconciled): _'I don't know that he'll ever recover completely, but he can go on with his life or... Existence. I shudder to think what it would have been like if he didn't have us.' _

Giles, she remembered, had been quietly broken. It was common knowledge that Giles looked upon Buffy as a daughter as well as his ward, and he had returned to England for a time before returning by Faith's (repeated, unsuccessful and eventually acquiesced by threat of fist) request. He treated Faith well, and she thanked him for it. They both knew that she did a kickass job as Slayer, and with no murderous intent she was much more appreciated as a functional member of the group, which had not for a long time been called the Scoobies.

Willow and Xander hadn't been the same. Their group dynamics - which Faith had remembered as pretty tight-knit - had been thrown completely out of proportion without Buffy to lead them. Willow had tried to resurrect Buffy, but to no avail: her mystical pot-thingy had broken before she could finish the spell. Faith's return had helped to restore some order and she knew that they respected her - _Hell, they better, _she thought -, but they didn't look upon her with the same trusting reverence as they had their previous Slayer. _Not _that she didn't get enough of that from the Potentials.

Spike. There was an interesting reaction. Faith had been completely unaware of Spike's playing on the good side now, so his state when she had arrived had shocked her. Man, she had seen some whipped guys in her time, but this vamp had gone for the gold. He was like a big brother to Dawn now, protecting her and guiding her as '_a promise to a lady'_. His current state was slightly less pitiful, but only slightly. He read about some prophecy for an ensouled vampire, and (she assumed determined not to give Angel all the glory) sought re-ensoulment. It was a weird explanation and Faith doubted that Spike had read of such a prophecy, but she wasn't pushing for another reason. He'd been used by The First and gone through the same guilt that she'd seen Angel endure, but much to her amusement the two still remained completely incongruous, even as two of a kind.

Anya, although distressed on Xanders' part (even though they weren't together anymore, there was still some serious heat between those two lust-bunnies), could deal with Buffy's death much better than the rest of them.

"-Aith, are you brain-dead?" Dawn asked, "Giles has been calling you for the last five minutes. Sounds important."

"Huh, guess I just phased out. Later kid."

"You okay?"

Faith grinned, "Five by five."

* * *

Well, there you go. I'll release the next chapter in a day or two, if I can be bothered. Thanks for reading! Comments and reviews are welcome, always happy for hints on how to get better. (:


	3. Serious Power, Blondie

I thought it'd take me a few more days to work up any sort of resolve about writing another chapter to this story, but something about it keeps grabbing at my mind so this chapter sort of flowed. This is set when Faith would have come back with the injured Potentials canonically, but since she was off scythe-grabbing and priest brawlin' I decided that Willow should get some action with Potentials _other _than Kennedy. ;)

* * *

It was just after sundown: the most suspenseful time of the day. Faith felt a tightening in her chest, praying no uber vamps showed up anywhere near the already destroyed house.

"Faith, you'll need to help me. Caleb set a trap for Willow and the Potentials at the arsonal. There are three young girls in dire need of attention."

"On it Rupes," Faith said, beginning to bandage a Potentials' arm.

"You're damn lucky I'm a witch," Willow grinned beside a concerned Kennedy hanging off of her.

"Wil, you okay? Your hair _seems _to be red," Faith remembered when she had stopped Warren and he had shot at her, killing Tara in the process. Evil Willow, although in Faith's opinion sometimes much more interesting than Willow, was not something she wanted to revisit. Faith unconsciously rubbed the scar on her arm that Willow had given her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. No black roots, thank God. I made a shield around the bomb. It held pretty well, except that there was a blind spot..." Willow grimaced guiltily at a particularly badly injured Potential, "That spot let some of the explosion through. It's a miracle the whole shield didn't give way."

"_You're _a miracle," Kennedy whispered to Willow quietly. Faith rolled her eyes and continued with the conversation.

"Did we lose anyone?"

"No. Some uber vamps came, but it was lucky you decided to get us to do this during the day rather than the night; what force the bomb imparted on the structure made a hole for the sunlight to seep in, they fried just like any other vamp."

"You messing? That's almost too lucky to be real," Faith was suddenly _very _glad that she organised their search for the day.

"_Faith!_" Giles hissed, "_Help _me. Apply light pressure here," he pointed to a spot on the girls shoulder and Faith began applying pressure. "Not too much, you're much stronger than-"

"Yeah, I got it boss," Faith said. Losing Potentials had been an all-too-common occurrence for them. Faith tried to remain a detached leader, but it was difficult not to mourn these girls. She felt sad as she watched them in pain. Giles worked tirelessly to help the injured girls and Faith did what she could to help him. One of them bled out and went into hypovolemic shock, the other two would recover – hopefully in time for the battle.

Faith looked down on the girl with the most serious-looking injuries of the two, "This one's gonna be fine."

"How do you know that, Faith?"

"Just a feeling."

"You should go and train with the other Potentials; they can't afford to get sloppy."

"Geez Giles, give them a break for _five minutes_. They just lost their friend."

Giles' face became stern, "And they'll lose a lot more if you don't help, so I suggest that you just go and train with them now Buff-" Giles stopped, catching himself. "Faith." He cleaned his glasses impulsively and looked downwards. "I'm sorry."

"No big," Faith assured him. To her, in actual fact, it _was _big. All of the closeness she felt like they had attained sometimes stunk of borrowed affection like she was second best, and he didn't really think of her as much more than leftover supplies.

_Hey, stop bein' a retard, just go and train the Potentials, _her inner voice commanded her.

Out in the backyard the Potentials were being taught a new branch of Tai Chi by Kennedy. Faith picked up an axe and skulked around behind a random Potential, swinging it as hard as she could. The Potential spun around and blocked the attack, disarming but not overpowering Faith.

"Molly, I'm impressed girl. Good disarming."

Molly grinned as all of the other Potentials looked on in awe.

"See girls, _this _is what you need to learn, not only _how _to fight, but when. Expect it. _Be. Prepared. _The First ain't givin' us any warm up time when it decides to bring it, so you need to learn everything you can as soon as you can. Molly could have clocked me, but she knows I woulda beat her down, so she went for the disarm instead. Analyse your sitch and use it to your advantage."

"What if we can't?" A recently-arrived Potential squeaked.

"You _can._ I'm not who I am because I'm a good Slayer, I'm a good Slayer because of who I am. Now get back to training," Faith said, floating over to the back door and perusing her favourite weapons while watching the girls train. These girls were getting better, but they had a long way to go. No confidence: that was their problem. She got that, but she also knew they'd have to get over it if they wanted to win. She could straight away pick the ones who were most likely to live and those who weren't; all about confidence.

"Children playing nice, Slayer?" Spike walked up behind her. Faith was pretty fond of Spike, she felt like she could relate to him better than the rest of the group... Plus he'd never treated her with contempt about what she'd done (she happily ignored the fact that he couldn't because he'd killed a thousand times more people than she had).

She smirked, "Yeah, they're getting there."

Spike eyed her seriously, "Do you think they can do it?"

She shrugged, "If _they_ think they can."

"What now, then?"

"I've gotta take on Caleb."

"Need help?"

"I think this is a job for one."

Spike raised his eyebrow suspiciously, "Do you remember what happened last time you faced Caleb _with_ the Potentials?"

"Yeah, I do. If the only leverage this guy has got is me, I've got a better chance of taking him down. I can't get distracted this time."

"Well, yeah, but I meant the fact that he nearly snapped you in half, love."

Faith grinned and walked back inside, "Hold on," she ran upstairs and grabbed her scythe like a child showing off her toy, which was how she was acting, anyway. She felt giddy at the sight of the scythe that felt like it belonged to her. Running back downstairs, she met with Spike in the doorway, holding out the scythe. "Check it."

"It's uh, shiny, but is it any better than a regular axe?"

"Giles said that it pre-dates anything they've seen and it..._ Feels_ like it belongs to me. Trust me, I'm attached to some serious power here Blondie."

Spike felt a warm kinship with Faith: she was the best person he knew, except for... "Be careful," he warned. "We need you in one piece for the battle. Two at the most."

"Have I ever let you guys down?" Faith asked innocently.

Spike eyed her warily, and she laughed.

* * *

I found this scene a bit weird to write. I wasn't sure whether Willow and Faith should be on good terms, and how Faith and Spike would react to each other. Still, keeps it interesting for me. Thanks for reading. :) Comments and reviews are welcomed.


	4. Preaching to the Choir

Yeah, I know that this scene isn't really that different from the canon meeting with Caleb and the Guardian, but I couldn't resist a chance to warp it into Faith-speak and add a bit more of her into the whole scene. I think it turned out pretty well. _Definitely _the most fun to write so far. :D

* * *

"Crap!" Faith cursed, looking down at a particularly sharp branch that had cut her hand. She made her way through a thorny bush and into a cemetery, following Giles's directions to a temple 'on un-consecrated ground' that would hold the answers to her scythe. Pushing open some wrought iron gates she entered what looked like a smaller adaption of a pyramid. Flames licked the walls and an eerie glow was cast upon a red torn curtain. Faith began to pull back the curtain when an elderly yet spry looking woman stepped forward and began to speak to her.

"I'd forgotten... Just how young you would be. Comes from the waiting: mind plays tricks. I see you've found our weapon."

"What... Who are you?" Faith asked.

"One of many. Well... Time was. Now I'm alone in the world."  
"Lady, cut the riddles," Faith began bluntly, "You must know we're playing some deep odds right now, and I don't have time for 'why did the chicken cross the road?' Are you some kind of ghost?"

The woman smiled, "So eager for answers. I assure you I'm as real as you are. Just... Well, let me put it this way," a hint of an amused smile played on the corner of her mouth, "I look _good_ for my age. I've been waiting," she held out her hand for the scythe.

Faith hesitated, "How do I know you're not going to slice me open with that?"

The woman's eyes glinted with amusement, "Do you really think I could?"

Faith, considering this, handed her the scythe. "You pulled it out of the rock, I was one of those who put it in there," she explained.

"What is it?"

"A weapon: a scythe. Forged in secrecy for one like you who," she paused, "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"I'm Faith."

"We forged it in secrecy and kept it hidden from the Shadow Men who -"

"Yeah, met those guys, not the type you'd wanna party with."

A little thrown by Faith's mannerisms, the woman continued, "Ah, yes. Then you know. And they became the watchers, and the watchers watched the Slayers, but _we_ were watching them."

"Okay: so woo for the girl power vibe, but what are you?"

"Guardians. Women who want to help and protect you. We forged this centuries ago, halfway around the world."

"Yeah, Luxor casino theme: I dig," Faith said flippantly.

"Forged there, it was put to use right here. To kill the last pure demon that walked upon the earth. The rest were already driven under. And then there were men here, and then there were monks. And there was a town, and now there is you, and the scythe remained hidden."

"I don't understand: how didn't we know _any _of this? My watcher -" Faith didn't feel right referring Giles' as_ her_ Watcher, "must have read every book you guys ever released."

"We hid, too. We had to until now. We're the last surprise."

Faith was beginning to feel more confident, "Does... Does this mean I can win?"

"That is really up to you. This is a powerful weapon," the Guardian handed the scythe to Faith, "But you already have weapons."

"Yeah?"

"Use it wisely, and perhaps you _can_ beat back the rising dark. One way or another, it can only mean an end is truly near."

The Guardian stood reverently for a moment before hands protruded through the curtain and swiftly snapped her neck. She collapsed to the ground and Caleb stepped forward with a malicious smirk on his face. "I'm sorry; I didn't catch that last part on account of her neck snappin'. Did she say the end is near, or here?"

Faith quickly swung her scythe under her arm with the intention of slicing Caleb's face; however the priest caught the weapon and shoved her backwards with it. Caleb punched her in the face several times before Faith began to shake the scythe violently and - smashing it into his face and propelling him backwards in the process - returned it to her singular grip.

Faith rose and once again hit a crouching Caleb in the face with her weapon, however in swinging and missing him she left herself open to his elbowing her torso and knocking her into a pillar. His attacks were blocked by the scythe as she swung it when he grabbed it again. Ducking as he put his fist through a pillar Faith crouched and kicked him in the abdomen. A good metre and a half between them, she held a defensive pose and prepared to head for the door. Once a careless fighter, Faith now knew when to quit, and all of her Slayer instincts screamed now.

Pre-empting her intentions, Caleb dusted his knuckle and said; "You're not slippin' out of this fight girl. Can't you see? You can't stop me. I can just keep going back for more. It's like being reborn."

Lifting it high, Faith swung the scythe. "Let's see how reborn you get in bite sized pieces!"

Catching the scythe, Caleb punched Faith in the stomach and sent her back-first into a wall, then proceeding to kick her in the face and punch her in the gut. Faith dropped and quickly picked up her weapon, rising and once again swinging at Caleb. This time when he dodged her she was ready, swinging the scythe around the other way and impaling him on the stake-side of the scythe.

Expecting him to fall in defeat Faith eased for a millisecond which Caleb used to hit her square in the face and knock her once again to the ground. Bleeding profusely but still standing due to the fact that is injury had missed any vital organs, Caleb lifted Faith so she was level with his stomach, then ploughing his fist under her jaw and connecting his foot and her stomach once again. Faith stood and attempted to punch him, only to have her attack blocked and turned against her. Fear clouded her confidence momentarily: she was losing, she was going to die: this guy couldn't be killed. _No,_ she thought,_ I'll cut him into pieces_.

Knocked to the ground once again, Faith looked up at Caleb, "Now I gave you ample warning," he began, walking in the opposite direction, "told you not to interfere," she kept a firm grip on her scythe, "but you chose not to heed."

Faith threw her scythe into a corner and ran head on at him, only to be thrown over onto a tomb and tossed side on into a pillar. Caleb picked up the scythe and stared at it admiringly for a second, "I was kinda hoping it'd go this way."

Caleb swung the scythe down and Faith moved at the last second, spinning and kicking him in the face hence disarming him and grasping the scythe herself. Even more determined for this to end, Faith proceeded to use the same swing-down attack. Caleb jumped up and backwards, "I am _tryin_' to show you girlie," Punch, dodge, Swing, dodge, "that you can't win," kick, dodge, swing, dodge. Avoiding a particularly high punch, Faith bent down and dug the scythe into the preacher, cutting him in half and (_thank, God.) _stopping him in mid sentence. She cut off his head too, _for good measure, _she thought.

"Nice and thorough," a voice sounded, "Well done Faith. That was quite a show."

"Angel," Faith smiled, flinching slightly due to her facial bruises, "You couldn't have gotten hear a minute earlier?"

Angel laughed and faced Faith. "I've got something for you – to help with the battle," he passed her an A4 sized yellow envelope filled with papers.

"I'll have Willow and Giles go over it, decent source?"  
"Not as such."

"I'm sure Giles'll make something of it."

"I brought something else as well," Angel started, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a necklace with some sort of ornate jewel hanging from it.

"Angie, didn't know 'ensouled vampire' meant 'flamboyant'; good for you: findin' the passion for fashion. Not really my style though."

"It's not for you. I don't know everything about it. It's very powerful and probably very dangerous."

"This thing's growin' on me already," Faith said.

"It has a purifying power, a cleansing power... Possibly scrubbing bubbles. The translation is uh... Anyway, it bestows strength to the right person who wears it."

"And the lucky fashionista is...?"

"Someone ensouled, but stronger than human. As in me... Minus the fashionista part," he added.

"Or me."

"No, I don't know enough about this to guarantee your safety, besides; you've got that...Real cool axe thing going for you."

Faith held her axe up proudly. "Or... Spike?"

"What does Captain Peroxide have to do with this?"

"He's part of the ensouled crew nowadays."

Angel looked uneasy, almost pouty. Faith felt amused and had a feeling he was being petty. "You know, I started this whole soul-having thing, before it was the cool new fad."

"Angel, what are you: twelve?"

Avoiding her eyesight, he crossed his arms. Faith began laughing mercilessly.

"Yeah, okay, anyway; necklace?" hesitantly he passed her it to her and she placed it into her pocket whilst trying not to laugh at the petulant look on his face. "Also, you're going to need to set up a front in L.A. in case this thing beats us."

"You sure you don't want me to be in this here?" Angel seemed unsure but not offended.

"It's just too risky to have only one front, if we fall then everyone else is gone within days... Hours, even."

Angel nodded and walked outside with her. As unlikely as it was, the Slayer and the vampire engaged in idle chit-chat. Faith could tell that he didn't enjoy being in Sunnydale and was thinking about Buffy, which was another reason she needed him gone: if he battled here there was every chance he'd get too caught up in past memories to fight to his best, and his non-existence would be a major loss to the world and the side of good, or so Wes told her.

Faith was thrown back into her bad days as she spoke with Angel – simply because that was the last time she had spoken in depth to him – that old feeling of loss and emptiness pulverising her chest, but as they parted in the cemetery she felt a warm friendly regard for him and a stronger hope that they may win the fight.

"Faith," Spike said, walking out of the bushes, "Did you have a present for me?" He held out his hand for the necklace.

Faith groaned, passing it to him, "I guess 'ensouled vampire'_ does_ mean 'flamboyant.'"

* * *

I wish I could have made Angel seem more petty, but seeing as neither he, nor Spike are in love with Faith it didn't seem right. And also no one could ever beat the original scene. Eh, eh, eh. Comments and reviews are very welcome, hope you enjoyed this!


	5. Wooda, Coulda, Shoulda

Well, here's the fourth chapter. I'm not so confident in this one, so you'll have to judge for yourself.

* * *

It was the night before they waged war on The First; they were going into the Hellmouth and Robin was back, he'd left to find other rogue demon hunters like himself. Even without her Slayer side, Faith wasn't like other girls: she didn't sit around moping and missing her boyfriend and leaving him a million messages on his voicemail. She had missed Robin, but if she felt crappy about it she went out and sparred with Spike or went patrolling. She'd been with Robin ever since he began his job as Principal at the new Sunnydale high. Not so much as a couple at first, but they'd been together.

_"Oh my God Faith, this is the best phone ever. I can't believe you bought this for me!" Dawn held a silver flip phone in her hand. _

_"Glad you like it, it doubles as a laser." _

_"Really?" Dawn's eyes widened in surprise._

_Faith began laughing hysterically, "No!" She ruffled Dawn's hair condescendingly. Dawn scowled. _

_She looked up at the school, a feeling of unfamiliarity setting in. She had rarely attended school, and when she had she hadn't been able to get through the day without punching someone. _

_"Anyway, go learn and by the way kiddo," she grabbed the phone for a second, "I find any naughty pictures on this phone, I'll -" she continued, describing something anatomically impossible. _

_"Okay, I fight the forces of darkness on a regular basis and that still disgusts me. You leave now," Dawn said, pushing Faith towards the gate. _

_"Nah, I think I'll see if you got any hotties in this party, maybe I could get one of 'em to catch me up on sex ed; I missed first time 'round," Faith winked, grabbing Dawn in a headlock. _

_"Faaaith!" Dawn whined, half-laughing, half-embarrassed. _

_Walking along the halls, Faith wondered how many of these kids would make it; they were on top of a friggin' Hellmouth, after all. "By the way," she smirked, "high school is a great place to develop your fighting skills. A punch a day, I always say."_

_Dawn rolled her eyes just as someone behind Faith said "I think the parental committee may disagree with you on that front." _

_Dawn whispered that it was the principal who had spoken and Faith spun around, prepared to meet with an uptight and greying old coot. Meeting instead with a tall, dark and very attractive young man startled her. Smiling, she said "Hey, that's cool, we got plenty of fight for the parental committee too." _

_The principal smiled and asked if this was her daughter._

_"Maybe I'll save my fight for the principal if he wants to play it like __**that**__," she jibed. _

_Dawn stood, embarrassed by Faiths' flirting. "Faith, leave now." _

_Faith laughed and raised her eyebrows teasingly to the man who then introduced himself as Robin Wood. _

They went to dinner a week later (not just skipping straight to the 'after' being an entirely new concept for Faith) and he told her that he had known that she was the Slayer, and that he had sought her out. They had had their problems - his trying to kill Spike being one of the more serious ones - but they were solid, and she was happy.

*

Faith held her scythe, facing a room full of Potentials and her friends. It was ten at night and everyone was wide awake in anticipation of the battle.

"Okay guys, tomorrow we're taking on The First. We've got the potential to beat this thing down," some faces grinned at her accidental pun, "but first you guys've got a choice, and no, it's not which food of Andrew's you want to steal."

The Potentials all laughed and Andrew exclaimed, "_Hey_!"

"No, but seriously guys. One Slayer is born to each generation because a bunch of old guys decided that that was how it should go, and the girl standin' right next to me," Faith indicated to Willow, "Could destroy them all at once with her hands behind her back. So here's where you make a choice. Choose to be strong. _Choose _to win." Faith's eyes roamed over the room, her stance commanding and her face filled with pride. She knew that they could win.

*

Faith climbed into bed next to Robin, nipping his ear teasingly. "Miss me?"

Robin laughed and put his arms around her waist, "Yeah, I did."

Repeating Spike's question from the day before, he looked at her seriously. "Do you think the Potentials are ready?"

"Yeah, I think they are," Faith said honestly. "'Sides Wood, I got a game plan," she grinned.

"Oh really? Wanna fill me in?"

"No, there are other things I'd rather be doing," she smiled impishly.

*

Faith woke with a start as she heard something speaking to her. She wondered why Robin hadn't woken up; he was a pretty light sleeper.

"Ah, Faith. You're awake," Mayor Wilkins said. "You used to sleep a lot better than that, I hope you're not neglecting the importance of your whole eight hours."

Faith remained strong, "I know what you are. You're not real."

"No, I'm not real. But that doesn't mean I'm not me; Richard Wilkins the Third, late mayor and founder of Sunnydale. Here, I'll prove it to you. Ask me a question only I know the answer to. Something like... Where did I hide the moon pies in my office, or who was my favourite character in Little Women. Meg. I know! Most people guess Beth but Meg, she's such a proper young lady."

"I know what you're doin' and it's not going to work. But feel free to keep talking, 'cause hell, I could listen to you yap all night," Faith said, her face remaining cool.

"Hey, hey, hey! Language! You're a leader now, you keep throwing the H-E double hockey sticks around and pretty soon the girls are going to pick up on it. Then what?"

Faith kept cool and venomous, "Hey, you let me worry about the girls."

The Mayors' face was solemn, "Of course, of course. You're doing a great job with them, by the way. Much better than Buffy ever did with_ her _slaying."

"Buffy made this team, no one's glad that she's dead."

"Why are you protecting her? She hated you. She almost killed you. You think when she died her last thought was '_I forgive you, Faith'_ or that when she told Dawn to give her love to all of her friends she was_ including_ you?"

"It's different now. I'm different."

"No matter what you did, Buffy always saw you as a killer. You think if she was still alive you two would be together just... 'hanging'? As you kids say. She'll always see you as a killer, and her friends will _always _be loyal to her, so_ they_ will always see you as a killer. You keep looking, working for love and acceptance from these people. Why do you think that is?"

"You're a shrink now?"

"You keep trying to redeem yourself, just like Angel taught you, but the truth is he'll never be redeemed, and he'll never be loved. You saw what happened the last time he got his true happiness. You're the same, Faith. It's your own personal curse. None of them will ever be able to love you, not the way I love you. Do think they love you? Do you think they_ can?_"

"I'm not like that anymore, I'm good," Faith said vehemently.

The Mayors' face began to warp until it was that of a petit and fiery looking blonde.

"No, no they can't love you. I was the Slayer; you're the _killer_. They only keep you around because you're so good at it. You're not reformed. You're not redeemed," the Buffy incarnate edged closer and lowered her voice to a condescending hush, "You'll never be anything more to them than my_ replacement_. Do you think that they would have even _thought_ of you if I hadn't died? They love me, they _need_ you.

The fake Buffy put on a distressed voice and pretended to be Faith, "_'That's okay because they love me for who I am now. They've _learned _to accept _me _for _me!

"But," she whispered in Faith's ear, "They_ don't_ love you. They don't accept you. They _accept_ that you can do they job that they need done and you can do it best. And when they watch you die tomorrow," Her voice lowered to a murmur, barely audible to anyone but a Slayer, _"They'll watch, and think of me."_

"Get out," Faith growled.

"Now, Faithy. Let's not lose our temper. _I _never lost my temper."

"GET. OUT!" Faith roared.

"I'd say see you later, but they don't let murders go where I am."

"NOW!"

Robin woke with a start. "Faith, what's wrong?" He got up and wrapped his arms around her.

"Nothing. Just... Just a bad dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Faith's eyes were full of fire, "I want to kick The Firsts_' ass._"

* * *

And there you go. Once more, hope you liked it. Comments and reviews are always welcome.


	6. Just Rewards

Okay, I haven't updated this in a while, and I didn't feel like there was anything else I needed to add to it. I'm happy with what I've got, so, here's a little alteration to the ending that I thought was nice.

* * *

  
The ground began to shudder violently. Faith staked the vamp she was battling and looked over at the distracting bright light in her periphery.

Spike was the bright light. The pendant which was now embedded in his chest was directing a powerful beam of light straight upwards."Oh God," Spike muttered vehemently.

"EVERYBODY OUT!" Faith thundered and the new Slayers began to ascend the stairs. "EVERYBODY OUT NOW!"

She ran over to Spike, who stood beside the foot of the stairs; he was glowing violently and his face was set. "... Spike..." She knew he wasn't going to survive. So did he.

"Faith, you've got to leave now," Spike said, still managing to look stern. Something passed through him and his lips turned upwards in the most sincere smile she'd ever seen on him. "...It's there...I can feel my soul..." Suddenly tears welled in Spike's eyes and spilled over, "And -" he inhaled sharply, "...I can see her."

"See who?"

"Buffy," tears of joy flowed freely from him eyes. He wasn't talking to Faith anymore.

Faith was distracted from the mayhem around them by true 'if-I-were-Angel-I'd-have-lost-my-soul-by-now' happiness on Spike's face in those moments. This was how she would remember him.

Faith felt tears of her own begin to well. He'd better go somewhere good, she threatened The Powers mentally. "Thanks man, for everything. I couldn't have done half of what I did..." she choked.

"It's okay. You have to go, and I want to see how this plays out. Tell Little Bit... Just give her a hug from me."

Faith nodded and smiled sadly at Spike one last time, "Say hi to Buffy for me." God, he looks so happy.

Spike looked like he'd never been in a better place than he was now. "I will, now get. I've got work to do."

Faith ran and her chest ached with the loss of one of her best friends. This was his final act of redemption; he was a champion now. He was redeemed, and Faith felt sure that Buffy was his reward.

Sprinting outside, she realised that she'd missed the bus. Of all the times I've missed the bus... She laughed to herself. Quickly climbing a ladder and jumping over several buildings she made it to - or, on the bus. She held on for dear life as someone drove them out of Sunnydale as it all fell away; Good riddance. Hope you're happy, Spike, she thought, and then added amusedly, And for yours and Buffy's sake, I really hope Angel never dies.

Suddenly the bus stopped and her friends began to get off; Xander first, then Willow, then Giles, then Andrew. Where was Robin? She began to climb off of the bus, exclaiming loudly; "YOU MISSED MY STOP!"

"That's my girl; always doing the stupid thing," Xander said to Andrew, patting him on the shoulder. Anya mustn't have survived. Faith felt for Xander. Now though, she needed to find Robin.

"Faith! You're alive!" Willow grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

"Just 'cause I'm not dead, doesn't mean you can hug me," she grinned. Willow pulled away, looking sheepish. They knew Faith didn't do hugs, but Faith pulled her in for a quick one.

"Glad to see it, Faith," Xander said.

Giles smiled and Faith said what she knew they needed to hear; "She would have been proud of you. All of you. Spike... He's gone. Before he went he told me he could see her...He looked happy, so I figure she must've, too."

Giles, Xander and Willow all simultaneously let tears fall down their cheeks. "Thank you, Faith," Giles said.

"Where's Robin?"

They exchanged looks, "On the bus," Willow said.

Faith sprinted onto the bus. He was in the drivers seat and holding his hands over a wound on his abdomen. She saw that there were a healthy number of Potentials there, with a few sadly notable exceptions. Robin smiled weakly when he saw her, "Faith. I thought you were," he coughed, "I didn't think you made it."

She bent down to his level, more emotion overcoming her as she looked at him softly, "Like I'd let you off the hook that easily. So, that was you driving. Figures; didn't think there were any grandmothers on the bus."

Robin laughed and spluttered, his eyes glazing over.

Faith was shocked into stillness. She hadn't doubted that he would survive. Tears remained fresh in her eyes from the whole days ordeal; they overflowed now. In a quiet sadness, she lifted her hand to close his eyes. As if snapping out of a trance, Robin coughed and regained consciousness.

A relieved smile wormed its way onto her face, "I thought you were..."  
"Like I'd let you off the hook that easily," Robin teased.

"We'll get you patched up, how you feeling?"

His face broke into a huge grin, "Five by five."

They both were.

* * *

Well, there you go.  
Hope you liked the story, let me know if you did?  
Thanks for reading!


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